I remember being young and not caring or believing in the election process. I was ignorant and didn't know much about what or how the Government operated at all. It wasn't part of my family or friends conversations even on the Holidays, so unless I read a newspaper or watched the news, it never even seeped into my life.
I know we were supposed to learn about our great US Government in school, but with the exception of some things in my History classes, ( snore) that mostly taught us about wars I really never got any civic lessons.
No, I really was never interested in Government until I consciously realized it was adversely effecting my quality of life as well as those around me that I cared about. I wish I had learned more when I was young and my classmates were being drafted right after Graduation and sent to Vietnam. Many of whom did not return and many other's that had their lives changed forever in ways that most of us would never really dream about at such a young time in life.
Yes, I like so many others thought that as one person what could I possibly do to affect any change with Big Government Bureaucracy. I have since discovered that I was one of many that were purposefully kept ignorant of such things so that we would not actually take any initiative to rock the boat. Hey what about all those protests in the late 60's and early 70's, anyway? Yes many young people got motivated and rocked the boat during those years and this Nation has seen to it that things of that nature will never happen on that scale again.
As I see it, how the bureaucracy has achieved this is pretty amazing, it being through the non-education of the masses of children in public schools. It wasn't, and isn't hard, to keep the uninformed and undereducated, ignorant of power. All that is needed to do so, is keep them poor, working two jobs at low incomes and struggling everyday to have space enough for the family to live in, while also working continually to provide food, transportation and money for family bills.
The children of these families are of course sent to public schools where their teacher has now been transformed from teacher to a multi-task caretaker. And when the children in these schools act out emotionally they are referred to as at risk and often diagnosed with ADD or ADHT. This of course labels them as slow learners or children with disabilities. This allows school administrations to place them in a category that tends to label them un-teachable. I find it quite convenient that a large percentage of America's public schools population meet this criterion.
The schools have been blaming, the "not-learning" curve on the parents, who, by the way, are also undereducated. The parents look to the schools to educate a child and help establish a sense of self worth in the children going to these schools whether they come from the slums or homelessness the same as a child whose home has been secure and was always well provided for.
You think this is a hard concept for you to grasp, just imagine what the kids going to these schools are forced to address every day of their supposed Academic learning experience. Real changes are needed in public education and have been now for over 30 years.
Most teachers know that children learn in at least seven different ways, most public education addresses maybe two of these regularly. Project based learning is one of the most important tools for the children of recent generations. Highly skilled teachers have been using this in private Academies for years now. It is rarely found in Public Schools. Public education needs a major makeover in this Country, not bureaucratic and administrative strategies about change, but actual actions taken on a grand scale.
Addressing homelessness as a Nation:
Below you will find the source websites where this information was taken from. All is exactly as it is in these two websites.
„h 3.5 million people (1.35 million of which are children) will experience homelessness in a given year.
„h Children under the age of 18 account for 39% of the homeless population. 42% of these are under the age of 5.
„h 43% of the homeless population are women; 40% of these women are unaccompanied. 22% of homeless women claim domestic abuse as reason for homelessness. 25% of these claim to have been abused within the past year.
„h Families with children comprise 33% of the homeless population.
„h Vets constitute 40% of the homeless population.
„h 1 in every 5 homeless persons has a severe or persistent mental illness.
„h 25% of the homeless nationwide are employed.
The McKinney-Vento Act paved the way for service providers in the coming years. During the 1990s homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other supportive services sprouted up in cities and towns across the nation. However, despite these efforts and the dramatic economic growth marked by this decade, homeless numbers remained stubbornly high. It became increasingly apparent that simply providing services to alleviate the symptoms of homelessness (i.e. shelter beds, hot meals, psychiatric counseling, etc.), although needed, were not successful at solving the root causes of homelessness. However, critics claim that Bill Clinton¡¦s 1996 welfare reforms increased the number of families entering homelessness.[citation needed] At any rate, policies set into motion in the 1980s were never adequately reversed during the Bush Senior or Clinton administrations; conditions, therefore, remained ripe for becoming homeless.[citation needed]
[edit] 2000s
In 2002, research showed that children and families were the largest growing segment of the homeless in America,[37][38] and this has presented new challenges, especially in services, to agencies. Back in the 1990s, a teenager from New York, Liz Murray, was homeless at fifteen years old, and overcame that and went on to study at Harvard University. Her story was made into an Emmy-winning film in 2003, "Homeless to Harvard".
The Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), the federal branch responsible for overseeing homeless policy that was created under the McKinney-Vento Act, is now attempting a new approach to combat homelessness. For the first time, government officials are calling for an end to homelessness. To accomplish this goal ICH has adopted a strategy largely devised by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (one of many homeless advocacy organizations), which centers on the production and implementation of local 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness. The idea is to get all of the necessary parties¡Xlocal/state governmental agencies, businesses, non-profit organizations, service providers, faith-based entities, and homeless (or formally so) individuals¡Xworking in collaboration to devise and implement a 10-year plan for their respective community.[39]
In January, 2008, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and his Commission To End Homelessness released a report which emphasized preventing homelessness for people on the verge of it, permanent housing for the homeless who are now in emergency shelters, and support services to accomplish this. [40] [41] [42] But there are many complications of this kind of program and these must be dealt with to make such an initiative work successfully in the middle to long term. [43]
Rather than channeling funds into direct services that seemingly sustain homeless lifestyles, these result-oriented plans are designed to focus efforts and funds on the creation of permanent supportive housing (PSH) for the most troubled and difficult, ¡§chronic¡¨ homeless population. Considering that it is actually cheaper to house someone than it is to fund the otherwise needed myriad services, this approach is being stated as a cost-effective solution.[44]
On July 29, 2008, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that homelessness in the US had declined by 30% between 2005 and 2007, with chronic homelessness falling from 175,914 to 123,833.[45]
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I address these two issues to show you but a few very important issues that we are facing as Americans in the now -future of our daily lives. I also bring them to the foreground to help us understand that we need politicians in office that will not only address these very important issues but also those of Global Warming, Stabilizing Social Security, Helping the Disabled and Terrorism on a Global Scale.
You see there will always be differing viewpoints on what is truly important to "The American People" but I believe that common sense has to become a much greater factor than it has been under the ruling two party system we now have and Americans seem to have suffered much more greatly under Republican administrations than they have under Democratic.
I have always considered myself to be an Independent who was working to help establish a three or four party Government, yet at a juncture such as this Election I find myself needing to vote purely Democratic.
My first choice for president would have been Hillary Clinton but since Barack Obama won the Candidacy, I stand firmly with this man of color. I believe that he not only has great diplomatic qualities and skills but also a kind of refinement about himself that helps him to see other perspectives in a meaningful way. I feel that Mr. Barack Obama will heed others in office who have great wisdom and insight that will help him deliver a change that helps, not hinder, a more balanced, and aware progression for the future of this Country and its peoples.
I often hear this phrase when politicians are speaking, " reach across the aisle". I am not interested in the rhetoric I hear, I would instead like to see some real changes and results for the betterment of Americans and the world we live in as a whole.
If we continue to believe in a two party system that has so much infighting and bickering that it allows us to get ourselves involved in wars we shouldn't be in, then we need a major healing in Government to take place.
Political elections for President of the United States, or any other office, should not be about abortion or a person's right to be gay or married. They should be about helping all Americans to better themselves so they will have the self-esteem and self-worth that will give them the strength and stamina necessary to save themselves and the planet itself.
I am not an idiot, and I know that corruption and big money have been in power for a long, long, time. Yet I am still an idealist who believes that equality should have its day, that is why I will vote for Barack Obama.
